Soul Daddy NYC closes; Jamawn moving here

Jamawn Woods was in good spirits Tuesday afternoon, after having put in an offer to buy a home in Lakeville. As part of his commitment to the Soul Daddy restaurant chain, he had to move to one of its three locations: Hollywood, the Twin Cities or New York City. He was ready to call the Twin Cities home after having checked out the other cities. “Too much traffic and horns,” he said about both places. “This location is a benefit for me and my family. Everything is a lot cheaper here, too.”

He will be doing his year-long management training here – and tweaking the menu, adding Hoppin’ John (blackeyed peas and rice), corn on the cob, and warm yams (that cold sweet potato salad wasn’t making everyone happy). And he’ll be at the Mall of America store everyday; stop by and you’ll see him.

And then he got the email that the New York City Soul Daddy will close. “This is the first I’ve heard of it,” he said about 4 p.m. Tuesday. “It’s put a real damper on the day.”

This is the press release that went out Tuesday:

"The realities of running a restaurant are very difficult, more so with multiple locations in multiple cities. After a careful review of the business model and the performance of the restaurants, we have decided that our best opportunity for Soul Daddy’s success is a more focused operation. We have decided to close our restaurant the South Street Seaport in New York, effective today. While it has certainly been a difficult decision, we believe this is the best approach as we work towards ongoing success for Soul Daddy."